Who will crack the code? Rolls-Royce showcases its passion for cryptography in new Wraith Kryptos

 

 

Ciphers can be traced through millennia, capturing the imagination of some of the world’s most brilliant minds. The Wraith Kryptos Collection, which will consist of just 50 luxury motor cars, incorporates a labyrinth of complex ciphers into its beguiling façade.

Who will crack the code? And what answers will the code bring? Only time will tell. Or will it?

On closer examination, a series of messages are hidden behind a unique Rolls-Royce cipher.

For the new Wraith Kryptos Collection, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars’ passion for cryptography led to Wraith becoming a willing canvas for an intricate design. The name Kryptos is derived from Ancient Greek, referring to something unseen, hidden and coded, mythical even.

The Wraith Kryptos Collection carries within it an encrypted cipher that evolves throughout the car for the clients’ pleasure and amusement. To the uninitiated, these ciphers appear, on the surface at least, to be an alluring design purely for aesthetic purposes and devoid of any discernible pattern. However, for those that look closer, those few who hold the key, they will embark on an experience that leads to an enlightening conclusion, said Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

The code is so secret that only two people at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood know the full resolution of the sequence – the designer and the Chief Executive. The answer has been placed in a sealed envelope, in the safe of the Chief Executive Officer, at the Home of Rolls-Royce, in Goodwood, West Sussex. Clients will be invited to submit their efforts at cracking the code via the members only Rolls-Royce Application, Whispers.

Rolls-Royce Bespoke Designer, Katrin Lehmann has been fascinated by the notion that you can communicate messages that are understood by only an elite few, using symbols, pictograms, and ciphers. Finding the key becomes integral to appreciating the full meaning of an item that can otherwise be viewed simply as a work of art.

“I look forward to seeing whether any of our clients will crack the code!” said Torsten Müller-Ötvös, CEO, Rolls-Royce Motor Car.

The cryptographic journey begins with the Spirit of Ecstasy, which has graced the bonnet of the marque’s motor cars for over a century. An engraving with green enamel detailing introduces the Rolls-Royce cipher on the base of the enigmatic figurine.

In perhaps the most apparent clue, elements of the cipher are embroidered into Wraith’s headrests, where the customary ‘double-R’ emblem can so often be found. For the driver’s enjoyment, an intriguing screenprint flows across the metal fascia, spanning the width of the interior.

Enrapturing Wraith’s occupants with light, Wraith Kryptos Collection features a beautifully elaborate, bi-coloured headliner depicting an in-motion data-stream inspired motif. Illuminated door pockets continue this theme with Rolls-Royce woven leather and Kryptos Green threads to reveal an unexpected and subtle illumination that fades towards the base of the pocket.